Portals (19 page)

Michael refused to say any more. He thanked us once again for returning the rest of his people. When Juliet asked about more questions later, he told her he would consider it.

With polite nods to us, he flew off.

“That was actually a lot more information than I expected him to give,” said Belus, musingly.

Aurelia and Sloane nodded in agreement and Aurelia added, “Perhaps our little talks are beginning to sink in.” She continued in answer to the questioning looks we gave her. “We are trying to show them that with more time they can turn their efforts to other activities than simply draining every person they find, until the source goes mad or dies from too much stress. We can only hope they will find things to do that will interest them.”

“Do not be fooled,” said Belus. “They may live long and seem to have a solid basis for survival, but they are at high risk. Their society has stagnated and when that happens, the society will collapse and die. They have been well on the road to their own destruction for eons. We can only hope that with the physical needs attended to, they will be able to focus on the mental and emotional needs they have neglected. We will do what we can to help. The rest is up to them.”

Everyone had their own problems and even immortal magical beings were not perfect.

We split up to get dinner ready and Thulu joined Stuart. I grabbed my camera and took pictures of the camp and the surrounding area, along with the people in the camp and whatever angels I could see in the distance.

Finishing up, I went over to Stuart and Thulu. That day Stuart didn’t turn down our offer to help and instead brought out fresh vegetables from the cooler and had us chopping them up. He had a piece of paper with a recipe and careful instructions from Raoul. Stuart’s forehead was creased in concentration as he read. Finally he crumpled up the paper and tossed it on the campfire he’d started earlier.

“To hell with all that, I think some grilled steaks and veggies is perfect. What do you guys think?” he asked us.

We laughed and agreed and cut the veggies up for skewering. Adding a grate to the fire, we made shish-kabobs. Stuart fished out a bottle of barbeque sauce from somewhere and basted everything with that.  I was sure Raoul would have been appalled, but it smelled delicious.

Dinner was a relaxed affair as we sat around our camp and traded stories and opinions on the interviews we’d had. We didn’t add much insight into their thinking, but at least we had a somewhat clearer picture of the Light Ones than before.

We were eating dessert, a chocolate cake, also from the magic cooler, when an elf we didn’t know approached our camp. Belus and Aurelia immediately went to meet the newcomer, who gave us as curious a look as we gave her.

Belus turned to us with a big smile. “Good news! We shall begin the healing in the morning. There are only a few things left to put into place.”

We applauded and cheered the news and celebrated with a couple of flasks of the elven drink I was growing to love. We drank toasts to a smashing success for the cure. Knowing that the cure was going to happen soon made it easier to enjoy the stay.

With the end of our journey in sight, I turned my thoughts once more to things happening on the home front. I wondered if Jeremy had any luck apprehending Reo’s shooter. I sat on the ground on my sleeping bag and leaned against Thulu’s legs.

I wondered about things on Jones’s home world and what had happened there after the portal closed. Soon we’d all have our answers.

The evening passed enjoyably, with snacks and more of the elven drink. Reo even sang a few songs in honor of the occasion, which gathered attention from some of the Light Ones and a few of the elves. Gracious as ever, he acknowledged his audience with a bow and jaunty wave.

Good company, good food, good music - I was content.

The next morning Thulu and I headed for the stream to bathe first thing, but we knew we needed to hurry, so didn’t linger. On the way back, I got that odd roar in my ears again, but it went away before I could ask Thulu if he could hear it. Maybe there was something on Neva that triggered it. I made a mental note to ask Jones or Sloane about it and of course, promptly forgot.

Once we were back in camp again, Jones said that only the elves and the Light Ones were to be in the valley. He had one of the Hummers ready to go and on the path going up the mountain. Stuart had already packed food and said we should take sleeping bags just in case it turned into an overnight affair.

We packed up the camp, so all we had to do was retrieve vehicles after the cure.

Thulu and I grabbed our backpacks and stowed them in the rear of one of the Hummers. Sloane had been recruited to help with the healing spell and would stay. Stuart, Jones, the goblins and three humans easily fit in the vehicle, with room to spare, since most of the equipment was in the valley. The fairies were so small they were able to find perches in the car, if they wanted to, but most flew outside.

Stuart drove up the mountain without any problem, negotiating my trouble spot with ease. We had been asked to go down the other side, keeping the mountain between us and the powerful spell that was going to be enacted.

Once we arrived, Jones sent a message telepathically for them to begin. We set up a small camp under the trees and began to wait.

A short while later, my skin began to itch and I felt a low hum that vibrated my bones. I looked at Jones, who frowned. He walked a wide perimeter around our camp, casting some sort of protection or ward because as soon as he completed the circle the discomfort went away.

I breathed a sigh of relief and heard Thulu’s own exhale beside me.

“That should protect both sides,” Jones said. Yet, he made one more circuit inside the one he had just made. Insurance was a good thing, I thought.

Time seemed to drag by as we waited. No one really knew what to expect, but Aela said it would be hours. Jones seemed to agree.

I pulled out my sleeping bag and curled up to watch the sky through the trees. There was actually a nice breeze that day, although it carried an odd, bitter scent that my human nose didn’t seem to appreciate. I quickly adapted to that, though.

The goblins were each bent over parchment. Juliet had an earbud in her ear listening to the recorder and was making notes. The others found various ways to occupy themselves, no one seemed inclined to chat.

Thulu had already pulled his tablet out and was reading. That looked like a good idea, so I pulled mine out, determined to make some notes on the trip. I got quite a bit done. It must have been several hours later when I looked up, realizing I’d been completely absorbed in typing my thoughts. I got up and stretched my legs and unkinked my back. Thulu had fallen asleep beside me, so I stepped away carefully.

Some of the others had gotten food out of the cooler. Romeo handed me an apple, and I gratefully bit into it. It was crisp, cool, and so juicy I had to wipe my mouth and chin.

I helped myself to some bread, cheese and water and took them back to my spot next to Thulu. He opened his eyes as I settled in, and he smiled when he saw me. Sitting up, he took the half of my little feast that I offered, quietly munching away.

Waiting for anything can be beyond boring. Even if it’s for some major magic thing like we were waiting for, the waiting part still took patience. And patience was so not one of my good qualities. Yeah, I pretty much sucked at waiting.

For me, I’d done a good job so far, but my boredom levels were starting to escalate, and I was restless. I tried to not let it show.  I watched the flock of fairies do some aerial tricks for a while. They were quite amazing, but the heat and waiting got to them too, and they settled in branches and here and there on the ground.

Thulu and I chatted about our online gaming. We hadn’t been able to play as much as we had in the past, and we both missed it.

That brought us to talking about Carter and how I missed that sweet little boy. Thulu smiled at me and brought up pre-school.

“We just got him,” I said quietly.

“Yes, but my concern is that he learns socializing with the mainstream as quickly as possible.” Thulu answered, his own voice low.

“Lynda-Jean had him with babysitters. He will think we don’t love him.”

Thulu shook his head. “Not if we explain that it’s so he can practice not using his gift among strangers. He’s been using it so much, it’s becoming second nature for him. I don’t want him to start talking to a ghost when he’s in school and have them think he has problems.”

I frowned and tapped a tooth with a nail. I hadn’t known I could see ghosts until I was ten, when my parents died. Once I was back in school, I met Thulu and he had my back. I tried to remember if I’d ever slipped up and said anything to someone no one else could see. I didn’t remember and asked Thulu.

He frowned with concentration. “Not that I can think of. But the dead didn’t bother us much and you were paranoid about anyone finding out anyway.”

“I wasn’t paranoid,” I said quickly.

Thulu looked at me steadily.

“Okay, I was paranoid a little bit.” I held up a thumb and forefinger with a tiny space between them.

He dimpled at me, and I moved into the circle of his arm.

“Back to Carter, though,” I continued. “Maybe just a day now and then. See how he does? I don’t want him treated like some mutant, so I guess it’s a good idea. He’s much more comfortable around the supernatural at three than I was at ten.”

We sat quietly under the tree for a while.

“Do you think we can ever mainstream? Or will it be like in the movies. Those who don’t have gifts will hate those who do?”

Thulu was quiet for a long time. I knew he was choosing his words. Reo joined us, and Thulu asked him what he thought. Before long the others had joined the discussion. There were lots of possibilities; predicting what humankind was going to do wouldn’t be easy.

As someone who had literally watched humans evolve, I was curious what Jones thought. He’d been listening as we posed every scenario from total acceptance to total eradication of supes. He sat comfortably against a tree, jean clad legs crossed at the ankles.

“I find this to be a very interesting discussion. With the knowledge that magic exists, and those who can perform it are real and not human, I believe the door to acceptance is open more than it might have been otherwise.”

“Do you think a time will come when Thulu, Reo and I could be open and not get hauled off to some lab?”

“Hey, I’m already out there. I do a show, remember?” Reo protested.

“Yes, Reo, but it’s a show. And there are plenty who think you have a clever set of tricks and illusions. Those who believe you have special gifts believe in you and adore you, even. But those are the kind of people who are open to such things anyway. I’m wondering about the cynics. Those who never believed. Would they turn on us for being able to do what they cannot?”

And we were off once more, as the debate continued.

Stuart spoke up. “As the only non-supe here, I have a different perspective. I think there will always be troublemakers; but overall, most people will think it’s cool to know someone or have a friend who can do special stuff. I mean if you can’t be Superman, the next best thing is to be Lois Lane or Jimmy Olsen. I certainly don’t resent any of you, and I think what you do is very cool.” He smiled at me, Thulu and Reo.

 Jones declined to predict anything else other than a wait and see.

“Yeah, well then, I won’t take out that ad in the Yellow Pages, just yet,” I said. “I’m going to continue to keep my head down.” I nodded once to punctuate my decision.

That topic segued into a discussion on the people from other worlds and how they would fit into Earth’s future. It carried us into lunch, and we continued to speculate as we fixed sandwiches and fruit.

The afternoon wore on, conversations started, then waned. The sun was beginning to set. We had just finished another meal of sandwiches, with fruit for dessert, when a figure appeared in the red twilight and stepped into camp. Everyone was up and immediately quiet as we waited for Belus to fill us in. He looked a little rough around the edges, his usually perfect gold hair was mussed and his eyes were dark holes in the dim light left to us.

“It is complete.” He looked around. “There were some complications. It will be better if you do not return to the camp on the other side. Our people will return the vehicles in the morning. Dhavenbahtek can open a series of portals for you to return to Earth, but you should wait until morning.”

“What sort of complications?” Jones asked the question on everyone’s mind.

Belus sighed. “We had everyone gathered in the valley. They were quiet, orderly, stoic, as they always are. There were over fifty of our healers working on this.

“The spell went smoothly and worked as we thought it would. Unfortunately, after the cure was different. Most of the Light Ones were relieved. I even heard some laughter from the children. They felt much as a starving man might after his first large meal in a very long time.

“But some of the Light Ones had problems adjusting to their new state. Their lives and existence have revolved around finding enough energy to sustain their bodies. They reacted badly to the spell and became despondent. Our empaths immediately tried to settle them, but to no avail. Many were lost as they took their own lives. They flew up high and plummeted to their deaths. It was one of the most horrific things I have ever seen.”

I felt a catch in my throat as I pictured the scene he described. “What about the ones we know? Michael, Mihren, Barterian and Sahrok. Are they all right?”

“Michael is. He tried to stop those who went mad, but they did not obey his orders. As to the others, I did not see them, but I shall try to find out for you. Since there is no body to identify, it will be chaos while Michael and his lieutenants try to figure out who is missing.”

“How many died?” asked Thulu.

“We do not know positively and can only guess. Entire clusters flew up together. The nearest count we have is about two and half million left.” He sighed. “I must return. I knew you would want to know.” Belus dematerialized, with a nod at us.

Did I hear him right? Over half a million angels committed suicide? The number was almost unbelievable, but elves rarely lied, so I had to believe it. It was a very disturbing conclusion to our journey. I was worried about my friends, too and hoped Mihren and his cluster were fine.

It was a very subdued group that reclaimed our seats on the ground. I was relieved that so many had been saved, but I felt awful for Michael who was dealing with the aftermath of this. I imagined that their entire society was in an uproar and perfectly understood the need to keep outsiders as far away as possible. They may be immortal, but they were far from happy. All things considered, I figured I was better off than they were.

The night passed slowly and no one much felt like talking. I worked some more on my tablet, trying to fill in things about our journey that I’d skipped over earlier. Thulu and I curled up together and watched the stars through the trees.

That night I slept in spurts, drifting in and out of sleep. Dawn’s heat woke me and I gave up trying to get any more sleep. The others were also stirring. And soon we were gathered around the magic cooler, getting fresh fruit and juice that Stuart had managed to save.

We packed up what little we had and put it in the Hummer. I looked around, admiring the blue trees and mountains. Taking out my camera, I took a flurry of photos to add to what I’d already taken.

After about two hours, we heard the first sound of the vehicles high up the mountain. Coming out from under the trees, we watched the slow descent of the rest of our caravan.

Sloane got out of the other Hummer, and the jeeps pulled up one by one. The elves who were driving got out. I waved to them, and some waved back before popping out, probably back to the valley.

Jones said it would be best to go to the Temple in the Himalayas, but that we would need to go through a series of portals to other worlds. I wondered why we didn’t go back to Phaete and asked him.

“I prefer to use a route that will not involve endless discussions for the moment. That is assuming I can even open a portal directly to Phaete. I prefer to take other paths, now that Neva is open to other worlds once more. I will return to Phaete on my own after I have returned the rest of you to your homes.”